Crystalline
by FuckMePumps
Summary: Neji watched the rain in silent adoration of its majesty. Sasuke cursed it with disadain because it was a reminder of a painful childhood memory. Want to know why? Read on. Up next: Sabaku no Gaara. R
1. Majesty

**_Short little drabble I came up with while thinking about how much I loved the rain._**

Hyuuga Neji loved the rain.

Today, he sat by the windowsill, staring at the raindrops fall from the sky, watching them shatter like brittle glass as it hits the pavement.

Pitter-patter. Drip-drop. Pitter-patter. But not quite.

Today, the sound of the rain resembled the footsteps of an enormous crowd, or the deep bellow of a humongous beast.

The bitter prodigy sighed as the cool night air from outside hit his senses, intoxicating, and overwhelming him.

Even though there is no training, no challenge of becoming a greater ninja, and despite the unreasonably icy weather, the muddy soil, the wet and slippery floors, Hyuuga Neji liked the rain.

The rain is different from sun. There is no chirping birds, but the wails of beautiful sirens. No dry and sweet-smelling blossoms, but roses with fresh dewdrops dripping down their petals. No blue and cloudless skies, but a glimmering silver sheet of sheer oblivion. No immense heat, no torture, but the cold, and rest.

The sun only shone for those who wished for it. But the rain fell down on everyone, whether they are rich or poor, weak or strong, or a part of the Head or Branch family.

There is equality; there is balance. There is no cursed seal that made one part of the clan limited, unable to surpass the other. All because of the way they were born.

The skies are gray and gloomy; and that was why he loved it.

The rain is the opposite of the sun. Just like the light is the opposite of the darkness. It is the evident symbol that everything is never right in the world, that sadness lasted longer than single and momentary bursts of happiness.

It is as if heaven is crying, sharing the pain and the burdens of the suffering.

Unlike the sun that only shone for those who praised it, the rain pours down to show the depressed that they are not, and never alone.

But as much as Neji loved the rain, he loved it more when there is a storm.

Something about the display of their severe and majestic beauty, the intensity of their attacks. And it wasn't just rain. There was also the strong, cold wind, the white-hot, fast flashing bolts of lightning, and the deafening booms of the thunder. It was a bold cry of nature, a faultless example of true strength. So feared, so lovely, so perfect.

He wanted to be like a storm someday. Strong, fierce, terrorizing.

He wanted people to recognize that even a member of the Hyuuga Branch family can become great. That geniuses can become even bigger geniuses. He wanted to prove that there is no limit to power.

In short, Hyuuga Neji loved the rain.

_**How was it? Please review!**_


	2. Melancholy

**A/N: **Not connected to Majesty in any way. This is just Sasuke's point of view about the rain. A pretty long drabble, but anyway…

**D: **Not owning.

**_Italics are flashbacks. Bold italics are flashbacks IN the flashbacks._**

It had been a beautiful day. A sort of nice, warm, and sunny afternoon that was supposed to be spent playing outside with a clear, blue sky in view. Or in Sasuke's case, training.

A few minutes ago, Naruto and Sakura were training alongside him, but as the temperature got hotter and hotter, they retreated inside. A thing that was very unheard of for Sasuke.

Then, just as fast as the heat rose, it lowered drastically, and Sasuke even resorted to dropping the kunai he held in his hand to wrap his arms around himself as a cold wind blew by.

He shook his head at the little voice inside him that told him to stop, and fought the chilly feeling on his skin, continuing with his training.

The sky darkened, the atmosphere seemed freezing, and as the wind blew by his perfectly coiffed hair almost became ruined. Teeth chattering and arms crossed, weapons forgotten outside, he headed inside the building where the others also were. Not a second too soon too, for as he closed the door, a bitingly cold raindrop shattered against the wooden doorframe.

Shikamaru was playing chess with a frustrated-looking Kiba, Akamaru sitting patiently beside him. He only had a few pawns, a bishop and his king left, while Shikamaru only lacked some pawns and a rook.

Naruto was talking to Choji, who seemed to be replying, though you couldn't really tell if it was just his open mouth while munching on a cookie.

Shino was sitting wordlessly on an erect chair, seemingly doing nothing.

Lee was planted in front of the television, though his round eyes seemed to rest on one particular pink-haired kunoichi.

Ino and Sakura were huddled close to Hinata, maybe trying to get her to talk. She just smiles softly and blushes.

A moment later, the door opened, revealing a soaked but still standing tall Neji enter the room, followed by Tenten, who was just as wet but looked more tired.

Neji stood to one side as he freed his long brown hair from the low ponytail and squeezed out the water from it. He didn't bother to take the water from his clothes, walking around dripping wet like it was the most natural thing in the world. He must have insisted on Tenten helping him finish his training.

As rain continued to crash against the windows, the howling of the wind gave everyone a clue to how stormy it might be outside.

It was Naruto who had the bright idea. He walked over to Lee and whispered in the green-clad boy's ear. Sasuke saw Lee smile, give Naruto his Nice Guy Pose before standing up, and followed the blonde ninja who was heading for the door. Ten pairs of eyes trailed after them. Surely they wouldn't be that stupid… or were they?

Everyone in the room was thoroughly motionless as they watched the two jocular boys walk into the eye of the storm. Seconds later, Naruto offered a hip shake that sent Lee into fits of laughter. And more seconds later, both had their arms outstretched, faces to the sky, as they danced badly, and clumsily, but still dancing nonetheless.

Everyone pretended to shake it off their minds as the two boys danced some more, but it was obvious they were bothered by the audible sound of Lee and Naruto's laughter. Bothered, yet curious.

A while later, Kiba couldn't seem to take it anymore as he toppled his king on the chessboard, knocking down a few other pieces in the process, picked up Akamaru, stood up abruptly, and practically ran into the rain as well, joining the other two.

Shikamaru looked only mildly offended as he watched Kiba go, and then his eyes zinged back to the chessboard. He could do nothing else but sigh.

Meanwhile, Choji had finished his cookie, but before he could get another, he got equally interested as to how the others could stand dancing in the rain without any food. Shrugging, he stood up, brushing crumbs from his lap, and basically pulled Shikamaru out the door. Shikamaru, on the other hand, didn't struggle, yet managed to mutter something that sounded too much like, _'How troublesome.'_

Okay. So that left Ino, Sakura, Hinata, Tenten, Shino, Neji and Sasuke inside. Not for long.

Ino and Sakura seemed to notice the absence of a few more of the boys, and, though they preferred their hair and clothes dry, they loved being clued in to what was happening more. Hinata just followed after them.

As the two girls walked out, Hinata looked around and spotted Shino sitting mutely in one corner. She approached him and looked like she was about to ask him something, but he just nodded and accompanied her as they went out into the downpour.

Tenten observed Hinata and Shino go out and frowned. She tugged at Neji's sleeve and said a few words to him. Neji's eyes twitched in annoyance, then decided that if he went along with it, Tenten would stop irritating him for the time being. He let himself be dragged outside, as Tenten eagerly wanted to find out what exactly made the others stay in the rain.

That left Sasuke. But he wasn't going anywhere.

He moved closer to a window to watch them.

Naruto, Kiba, and Lee were happily gyrating to an unknown beat without a care in the world. The girls were doing a better and more graceful job at dancing (though Hinata needed more confidence to pull it off) but they looked just as carefree. Choji was swaying slightly, but no more than that. Shikamaru's body wasn't doing much movements, but you could see his feet tapping silently as the urge to join the others in their dance became stronger. Shino stood perfectly still, but it was obvious he was happy with just watching. Tenten was trying to get Neji to dance with her, and was halfway to succeeding. All had, if not big grins, then the tiniest hints of a smile on their faces as the rain drenched them to their skin.

It seemed like they were all just waiting for Sasuke to come out and dance in the rain with them and the story would be over, and they would live happily ever after.

Sasuke had no intention of coming out to dance in the rain and give the story a happy ending. He was fairly content where he is, sitting by the window, watching the other genins (plus Shikamaru) make absolute fools of themselves.

Sasuke had never liked the rain. It was just a big nuisance of nature. When it rained, the ground gets muddy and slippery, making it impossible to train properly even after it. When it rained, he was forced to abandon his training to avoid getting sick (which seemed to be the goal of the others right now) which could prevent him from training even more.

But the most unforgettable transgression the rain caused him was its unreasonable attack that time in his sad childhood, when he woke up in the hospital the day after Itachi massacred his clan.

_FLASHBACK_

_Eyes the color of oblivion opened hastily, their owner panting as he awoke._

'_A dream…?' He wondered. A shot of pain on his left arm made him lift his sleeve. There were bandages wrapped around the area just above his elbow._

**_Sasuke stared with disbelieving eyes as Itachi hurled a shuriken at him, wounding him in the upper portion of his arm. As blood splattered out, he jerked in pain._**

_He rose from the hospital bed and into the hall. _

"_Yes, its true. He was the only one who was rescued…" Came the mellow voice of a nurse._

"_He had an older brother, didn't he?" Asked her companion. Sasuke's eyes widened._

"_But they don't know where he is."_

"_To think that noble clan…" _

_His teeth gritted as he walked out, unable to hear anymore._

_He ran out of the hospital and didn't stop until he reached the entrance to the Uchiha Clan's little community. Gray clouds chased after him._

_He held on to his knees for support, chest heaving. 'Do not enter,' instructed the yellow tape strewn over the entrance._

_Being small enough, he went under the tape and into the little village, just to see his aunt and uncle by their store._

"_**Hi, Sasuke-chan," greeted his aunt. "What did you come to buy today?"**_

_Sasuke beamed happily at the welcome. So it was all just a dream, and his whole family was alive and well! And his brother wasn't… he didn't…_

_All signs of joy vanished from his face as the images of his aunt and uncle vanished as well. Just a vision._

_As if to prove that there was no one left to care for him, little droplets from the sky made ripples in a nearby pond, and later on proceeded to focusing its attention on the young Uchiha._

_Memories flowed out of his mind just as much as rainwater flowed down his body._

"_**Sasuke-chan, are you going to school now?" His aunt said.**_

"_**Yeah."**_

"_**I just saw Itachi-chan. He sure has grown. He's already a first-rate shinobi. He graduated from the Academy with high honors at the age of seven, and he became a chuunin at the age of ten." **_

"_**He was able to use Sharingan when he was eight," Sasuke offered.**_

"_**Yes, that's right," his aunt looked wistfully at the Uchiha fan sign. "He's the pride of the Uchiha Clan."**_

_Sasuke glanced around him, and even in the rain, the painted symbol of the Uchiha Clan was visible. But now, there was a crack mark at the center, like a kunai had been thrown at someone, but that person ducked just in time to avoid it…_

'_No, Sasuke. Don't think about that," He told himself._

_He stopped at the entrance to the main manor. He slid it open and looked around, as if in unfamiliar surroundings. _

_When he glanced upwards, he saw his mother's smiling face._

"_**Welcome home, Sasuke."**_

_He nearly smiled again, but willed himself not to be fooled by his imagination. As walked inside, he took off his shoes, just like he always did before he entered the house…_

_Water dripped from his body and to the floor. He bowed his head as he passed one particular hallway where he always saw his father. In fact, he did so right now._

_**He passed his father in the hallway, his face seemed like it was carved out of stone.**_

_He stared blankly ahead as he went by every room, remembering a time that he had also done the same thing. It was as if nothing really happened…_

"_**Sasuke," his mother called. "Wait a minute."**_

"_**What?"**_

_**She bent down to his level and wiped some dirt from his face with one slender finger, grinning in a way only a mother could.**_

_As his mind recovered from the memory, leaving a small smile on his rain-wet face, he heard a sound from the other room. Could it be…?_

_He threw the door open, one word escaping his lips with a desperate scream._

"_Mother!"_

_Lightning struck from outside, lighting up the sleek figure._

_The emotionless yellow eye that glowed in the darkness was a dead giveaway. His mother had grey black eyes, just like him, just like Itachi…_

_The black cat purred, its feline face set in a snarl._

_Sasuke stood perfectly still, frozen in shock at the cruel way his hopes were crushed. His eyes softened; children do wish too much for their own good._

_He remained motionless as the cat jumped out the window._

"_**In that case, why is it always my brother!" Sasuke demanded.**_

_**His mother sighed. "Your brother is your brother and you are you. Father is always worried about you guys."**_

_The dripping faucet was barely heard as the sound combined with the rain and thunder outside._

_Lightning struck again as he came upon the room._

_There was a chalk-drawn outline on the floor; marking the same position his parents had fallen to after Itachi struck them._

_The haunting remembrance of the tragedy in this room, the scattered black blood that already had dried, the tears that were absorbed by the wood could be removed and forgotten, but not the depressing atmosphere that had been created as the young Uchiha finally collapsed to his knees in submission._

_More miserable than he had ever been in his eight-year-old life, Sasuke's bitter tears merged with the rainwater than caressed his skin._

_He had never felt so alone until that heartbreaking stormy night, as he cried his heart out, his sobs unheard by anyone because of the rain._

_END OF FLASHBACK_

How could the others experience so much joy in the rain while he had experienced only misery?

Ever since that day, he believed that the rain only had sadness to offer, especially when it mercilessly thundered down on him when he had already too much to bear.

But then, he also had to think. What if the sunshine had reigned that day? Would it have had some comfort to offer? Would it have been any help to his grieving soul if children played outside, and laughed while he cried? Would he have felt any better if he had seen other ninjas train, when it had been the very reason his whole family was killed?

He didn't have time to ponder this further as the rain fell lighter on the others until it permanently stopped, the sun resuming to its throne once again.

It came as a complete surprise to the eleven genins, but they got over it and unhurriedly went back inside, for reasons unknown.

They came in by group, the same group they were with when they went out.

A few minutes later, everything went back to normal, and it was as if the rain incident hadn't happened at all. That is, to the untrained eye.

It was different to Sasuke, however. He saw through their facades, especially those who pretended to not care. He saw the emotion that was carefully hidden in their faces, the one they all felt as they danced in the rain.

For those few minutes they spent rejoicing in the storm, they'd been lighthearted, untroubled, and blithe. For those few minutes, everything had been right in the world.

Sasuke, however, was only beginning to realize that there is both happiness and sadness in the rain.

**A/N: **Hehehe… told you it was long. If you're wondering how I memorized the all the dialogue from the scene taken from Episode 131: Activation! Secret of the Mangekyou Sharingan, it is not because I have the episode saved in my computer and I frequently watch it over and over again. No, it is some other reason… hehehe. Anyway, whatever, just go and

REVIEW!


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